PEMBINA institute A power pylon wrecked by severe weather. A Manitoba Hydro photo.   Pembina Institute reacts to the passage of Bill C-12, key to delivering on climate targets. Story here.

by Don Sullivan - Canadian Dimension  Don Sullivan (above) is the spokesperson for What The Frack Manitoba, the former director of the Boreal Forest Network and special adviser to the government of Manitoba on the Pimachiowin Aki UNESCO World Heritage site. He's a research affiliate with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and a Queen Golden Jubilee medal recipient. Two corporations, both Alberta-based, are in the midst of seeking Government of Manitoba approval to build and operate silica sand mines and processing facilities that would extract and process some 2.6 million tonnes of silica sand per year.  Story here. RELATED: "Is Manitoba's Brokenhead River about to become a dumping ground for an Alberta-based sand-mining company?"

THE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM Hog producers on the Canadian prairies (AB,SK & MB) were feeding more antibiotics to their herds in 2018 than 2017. (Source - CIPARS) The use of certain antibiotics deemed critical to human health has surged on British pig farms supplying major supermarkets, prompting fresh concerns about the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Story here. RELATED: WILL THE WORLD’S ADDICTION TO INDUSTRIAL LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION BRING AN END TO THE AGE OF THE “MIRACLE DRUG?”

Common Dreams Old growth forest in BC. Photo by Nadine Reynolds. More than 100 prominent individuals throughout Canadian society, along with a handful of international supporters, urged British Columbia Premier John Horgan on Friday to fulfill his campaign pledge to immediately protect the region's imperiled old-growth forests, which continue to be logged despite scientific warnings against further destruction. Story here.

Science Daily It's not uncommon for the Oak River, which flows through southwestern Manitoba, CA., to stop flowing at this control dam. A PinP photo. A new study found that between 51-60% of the 64 million kilometres of rivers and streams on Earth that they investigated stop flowing periodically, or run dry for part of the year. It is the first-ever empirically grounded effort to quantify the global distribution of non-perennial rivers and streams. The research, which was published today in Nature, calls for a paradigm shift in river science and management. Story here/

Common Dreams In summer, some polar bears do not make the transition from their winter residence on the Svalbard islands to the dense drift and pack ice of the high arctic, where they would find a plethora of prey. This is due to global climate change which causes the ice around the islands to melt much earlier than previously. The bears need to adapt from their proper food to a diet of detritus, small animals, bird eggs and carcasses of marine animals. Very often they suffer starvation and are doomed to die. The number of these starving animals is sadly increasing. A Wickimedia Commons photo. 'Urgent' action is needed, atmospheric scientist Markus Rex said.  Story here.

The following letter by Jon Crowson appeared recently in the Empire Advance, a weekly newspaper in Virden, Manitoba.  It's his response to an article which appeared earlier in the same paper (see bottom). Hog Barn Saturation. Thanks for the primer on the provinces hog industry (Empire Advance, June 4, 2021). Frankly I’m not sure I really needed one. This map, from the industry itself, shows hog barn locations as they were n 2007. How many are enough? When the big guns from Manitoba Pork seek a meeting with council (even if they don’t have to leave their own boardroom to do it), one can’t help but be suspicious about their motives. Could it be that recent decisions, such as Cartwright-Roblin council to reject a new barn proposal, has got them worried? Worried that the tide is turning against the takeover of our rural areas by “Big Pork”. When it comes to new factory hog barn proposals the concerns of nearby residents cover the gamut from the stink (sufficient to breech the Internati

PHYS ORG The conversion of forests into agriculture has been flagged as one of the major causes of deforestation. A PinP photo. The world is at a crossroads, as humanity tries to mitigate climate change and halt biodiversity loss, while still securing a supply of food for everyone. Story here. RELATED: Illegal clearing by agribusiness driving rainforest destruction

                                                       PHYS ORG A "zombie" (peat) fire in the Arctic. Photo by Western Arctic National Parklands.   Carbon loss in Canadian peatland is projected to increase by 103 percent under a high emission scenario, according to new research led by scientists from the University of Waterloo. Story here.

Leibniz  Forschungsverbund Berlin .V. A PinP p hoto. Global warming is increasing the temperatures of lakes worldwide – are species finding the temperatures they need to survive? Details here.

The National Observer Trouble’s brewing for RBC. Canada’s climate movement is converging on the bank as its common target for pressure campaigns.   Details here. RELATED: How Ethical are Ethical Funds?   "Conscientious" investments & the tar sands connection.

Policy Options   Oil pipe sits on a railway siding in SW Manitoba. A PinP photo. If Alberta’s policy-makers don’t plan for a managed fossil fuel decline, financial and other institutions will make the decision for them.   Story here.

The Guardian A  seeder at work in Manitoba, CA. A PinP photo. Soils provide 95% of all food but are damaged by industrial, farming, mining and urban pollution.  Story here.

Nature Clear Lake, Manitoba, CA. A PinP photo. Widespread, long-term declines in temperate lake oxygen levels have been reported in Nature this week. This trend, calculated for nearly 400 lakes within an 80-year period, may be linked to warming temperatures and decreasing water clarity. The declines could threaten essential lake ecosystems. The concentration of dissolved oxygen in aquatic systems can affect the balance of nutrients, biodiversity, the quality of drinking water and greenhouse gas emissions. While oxygen loss in oceans has been documented, the changes in dissolved oxygen concentrations in lakes are less well understood, in part owing to a lack of long-term and large-scale studies. Kevin Rose and authors measured temperature and dissolved oxygen levels for almost 400 lakes (mostly in Europe and the United States) between 1941 and 2017. Declines in dissolved oxygen are up to nine times greater than those observed in the oceans.  Increased water temperatures are associat

The Tyee                                 Bighorn country, eastern slopes, AB. Photo by Aerin Jacob Approving the Grassy Mountain Coal Project will surely spell nothing less than the industrialization of Alberta’s sensitive eastern slopes.  Story here.